Overview

• Consumer prices climbed to 3.6% in June, the fastest pace among G7 nations, driven largely by rising food and transport costs
• Unemployment rose to 4.7% in the three months to May, its highest since mid-2021, as payroll employment fell by 41,000 in June
• Job vacancies declined to 727,000 in June, marking the 36th consecutive month of contraction in advertised positions
• Chancellor Reeves’s April increases in employer National Insurance and the minimum wage have added to business costs and fed through into domestic inflation
• Financial markets are pricing in a 25 basis point cut by the Bank of England at its August policy meeting following recent GDP contractions and labour market softening